V.I.R.A.L

The sunset on the village as Zinnia sat at the helm staring on at what was her home. She felt nothing for the setting with no memories of the such. She spent most of her life searching for the truth, but once it was laid down in front of her, she's unsure how to feel. The village elder walked over, trying her best to make Zinnia feel welcome. "Your mother would very much do the same. She would watch the village with a blind stare; she'd always dream of leaving and making a life for herself. It wasn't long until Hannah ran off out of the blue to a world beyond here. It was 400 years ago she came back to us with you in her arms."

"It's all just a little hard to believe." Zinnia whispered. "I mean 400 years, that all just sounds so ridiculous. So, you're saying I'm 400 years old?"

"Our clan is blessed by mother nature herself, and like nature, we grow much slower than the others. We are the peak of humanity chosen by the world to carry on its legacy." The elder stated, watching the children play. "You look more like your mother day by day, Zinnia."

Zinnia crouched, upholding her knees, still feeling relatively empty. "The orphanage I grew up at wasn't much different to the feelings here. It was an all-girl orphanage; at the time, there were about twelve girls, including myself. We use to play just like this during our days off, never me, though. The other girls think I was so cool looking up to me for being so grown up. It was quite the opposite, actually; I would slave away day by day waiting for my mother to come and save me. To come swooping through the door and take me away. It was foolish to believe such a thing could happen. It took me nearly seventeen years to fucking realise that. Others tried telling me, but I wouldn't listen, and now here I am, finding the place she grew up in. She should have been here to show me…"

"Your mother loved you very much, Zinnia. Having to flee from her home to protect you from Mortem was something she heavily regrets. No day would go by where she didn't weep for you. She would have done anything to take you back."

"Then where is she?! Huh?!" Zinnia snapped, staring down, mumbling to herself. "Why didn't she? I waited and waited with the promise she would save me. But it never came, and now I sit here home, but I don't feel any better."

"You feel guilt and pain for your friends?"

"If what Riley said is true, they are dying out there. Being slaughtered by this Mortem, and I'm just sitting here like a fucking coward allowing it!"

"Would you return to save them if given a chance?"

"Yes… No? I don't know… Before I left it all behind, I got into an argument with a good friend of mine. I blamed him for my own actions. He, too, was in the same boat and ran away from himself. It

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got us into a lot of trouble, and we lost one of our dear friends because of it. I was so hellbent on revenge I even murdered someone in cold blood. But when he came back to make things right and fight, I was so angry with him. I felt like he betrayed my trust, and I couldn't be friends with him anymore. I left him to drown in his own guilt and just ran away. It took me a while to realise how much pain he must have gone through to come back. The sheer willpower and might he had to overcome to face his regrets. I could never do that; I feel like if I returned now, all of this might have been for nothing. I'd find them dead or worse, they'd hate me for it…"

"We all choose what we believe is right, not correct. Your friend thought running away was the right thing to do even though he knew it wasn't correct. However, like any choices, we can change our minds and choose the correct path. No matter how much they might hate you for it helping your friends is the correct thing to do."

"I'm just too scared. Scared of what's left behind for me, if I return and find all of them dead, that will honestly be worse than death to me. I could never forgive myself."

The village elder lifted her cane up, pointing to a small cave at the end of the village. "I believe there is someone you should meet, Zinnia."

Standing up, she stared at the cave glancing back to the elder lost. "Who?"

"Someone who you should have met a long time ago."

Zinnia took a deep breath. With few options, she perused the cave to find her answers. Walking ahead, she spotted Riley watching her from the tent. Neither exchanged words as Riley looked up to the sky, breaking eye contact. As Zinnia entered the cave, Riley glanced back before sighing. Keeping watch on the village, a group of crows stalking the village made her a little on edge, feeling something was coming.

****

The cave wasn't that big. In fact, it was really only a tiny passageway with a shrine at the end. The roof of the cave was empty, leaving the night sky overlooking her. Wall paint was drawn all over with symbols and stories of the clan's past. Zinnia glossed over them, seeing stories of war and peace with the Garden playing a pivotal role in serval of them. Turning her attention to the shrine, she stared at seeing it untouched for a while. Serval unused candles rested on the floor, which Zinnia decided to light and rest on the shrine. The smoke poured out into the night sky as she stared onwards, waiting, unsure who was to meet her. Feeling slightly light-headed from the smoke, Zinnia felt her body sink as she collapsed to the ground, but before she hit the floor, she found herself flying in the air. Slightly freaked out, she began to panic, seeing the village from the sky. "What the hell is going on?!"

"You know I was like that too, you know. The first time I experienced nature's calling, I almost threw up on the spot." Zinnia turned, seeing her mother floating alongside her. Her face dropped as she stared blankly. "Hello Zinnia… It's been a while."

"Mother? This can't be… How can this be?"

"Your grandmother sent you to the shrine, yes? This is the place where we talk with the deceased."

"The deceased… Wait, you're. Dead?" Zinnia whimpered in shock.

Hannah nodded, frowning. "I am; I died about two years ago protecting your friends from Mortem."

Zinnia's head dropped even further as she felt her heartbreak in two. "You did? I'm… I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologising for?"

"If I was their things might have been different. We might have beaten Mortem, and you could still be alive."

Hannah stared at her home, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe. But none of that matters; you cannot change the past, Zinnia. I'm just happy to see you alright. I've been watching you all this time, and I couldn't have been prouder of you."

"You were watching me? Wait, you're the voice talking to me… The one I tried cutting off."

"That I am."

Zinnia wiped her eyes, tearing up. "I'm sorry for that… I should have known… Why?"

"Why?"

"Why did you say you couldn't be prouder of me? I've messed up big time over and over. I've killed somebody and abandoned my friends to die. I can never call myself a hero no matter what."

"I'm not one to really talk about being a hero…" Hannah joked, holding Zinnia's hand. "I'm proud of you because you understood your mistakes. We all make them Zinnia, but the hardest part of them is accepting the mistake and making sure that doesn't happen again. You killed someone and left your friends to die. What are you going to do about it?"

"What am I going to do about it? What is there to do?"

"You can still make amends and save them."

"How?!"

Hannah went to reply only to snap in pain as she began to faze out. "Zi- ru- dang-."

The world began to fade as Zinnia stared on reaching out for Hannah. "Mum, don't leave!"

****

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Riley stepped out from her tent, looking around seeing dozens of crows flying around the area. Staring on, she turned to the cave entrance as the crows began to soar around it. "Something is wrong here."

"It's too late." A voice snickered as a sword was held against her neck. "No one can save her."

Zinnia groaned, her eyes flickering open. She was no longer on the floor but in someone's arms. Her vision was blurry, but she looked at the figure, hearing a voice calling to her. "Zinnia. Zinnia."

As Zinnia stared on, the moonlight shunned down on the two, dazed seeing the last person she expected. "Percy?"

Percy smiled, speaking in his clear heroic voice, which slowly began to distort to something horrible. "I'm so glad I've finally found you, Zinnia." His figure began to change as his normal look began to corrupt. Skulls edged onto his shoulders, and a ripped pair of robes appeared. His face was cracked like stone, and his eyes were pure yellow. Dead flowers loomed off him as he smirked, holding a bloody sword to her throat. "And now I can finally make you feel my pain. Please die for me."